Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is scheduled to give a speech at a meeting of the Arkansas Young Republicans later this month. / Gannett Wisconsin Media, file

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The Associated Press

MADISON – A Republican-backed proposal giving tax credits to parents of students in private schools is being floated in the Legislature as negotiations continue behind closed doors to find an alternative to Gov. Scott Walker’s school voucher expansion plan.

Republican Rep. Dean Kaufert, R-Neenah, said Wednesday the measure he is co-sponsoring with Sen. Glenn Grothman could be a viable alternative to Walker’s proposal, which has hit a roadblock in the Senate.

Walker wants to expand vouchers beyond Milwaukee and Racine to nine new school districts, based on the grades schools get on statewide report cards that began this year. He also wants to increase the amount of the voucher for eligible students and allow special needs students into the program.

But Republican Senate leaders have said major revisions are needed before they will accept the plan. Some object to using the report cards as triggers to get in the program, others oppose having an entire district enter just because two schools get failing grades, and others question spending $73 million more on vouchers while public school spending is frozen.

Kaufert said he was worried about the tuition idea being seen as an attempt to usurp Walker’s plan, which isn’t his intent.

“This is something that if the proposal on the table doesn’t pan out, maybe this is a viable alternative,” Kaufert said.

Walker’s spokesman Cullen Werwie declined immediate comment. Senate President Mike Ellis, R-Neenah, who has been one of the loudest critics of Walker’s voucher proposal, also declined to comment.

The tuition tax credit should not be considered a substitute for vouchers because it doesn’t meet the same goal of basically paying all the costs of a private school education, said Jim Bender, president of School Choice Wisconsin.

Vouchers currently are worth $6,442 per student, while the tax credit once fully phased in would be $1,500 for elementary students and $2,500 for those in high school. Unlike vouchers, which are only available in certain school districts, the tax credit would be open to any of the roughly 100,000 students in private schools not currently receiving a voucher.

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“Anything that empowers parents, we’re supportive of but we believe vouchers are a much more effective way of giving parents options,” Bender said.

The two ideas can work in concert with one another, said Matt Kussow, executive director of the Wisconsin Council of Religions and Independent Schools, which represents about 95 percent of private schools in the state.

“This proposal is good for our students and good for our state,” he said.

Grothman said he was hoping there would be enough money available to include his tuition tax credit proposal in the budget as it’s being reworked in the coming weeks by the Republican-controlled committee he sits on.

The idea has been around the Legislature for decades and has been supported by both Republicans and Democrats in the past. But it’s never gotten traction, in part because of its high cost. When fully implemented it could top $165 million a year.

It’s been widely opposed by groups representing public schools, and the constitutionality of giving tax credits only to parents of private school students also has been questioned.

A 2011 memo written by an attorney with the Legislative Reference Bureau to Rep. Andre Jacques, who introduced a similar version of the tuition tax credit bill that year, cautions that it faced major legal hurdles.

The attorney said the idea could violate both the Equal Protection and Establishment Clauses of the U.S. Constitution as well as related provisions of the Wisconsin Constitution because it is only available to parents of children who attend private and charter schools, not to those in public schools.

The 2011 version of the bill, which Grothman also co-sponsored, did not even get a hearing.

Kaufert dismissed the legal concerns.

“If someone wants to challenge, let it be challenged,” he said.

State hopes to return unclaimed assets to owners

MADISON – Wisconsin may have some of your money, and it wants you to have it back.

Starting this week, the state treasurer is publishing the names of people with abandoned assets or forgotten money. The listings will appear in newspapers statewide for the next three months.

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Each year, corporations turn over unclaimed cash, securities and the contents of safe-deposit boxes to the state treasurer’s office. The office’s Unclaimed Property Unit helps return the assets to their rightful owners.

State Treasurer Kurt Schuller (SHOO’-ler) says the office has more than $400 million in unclaimed assets.

The listings only reflect the new names received this year to date. The complete list is available online at www.wismissingmoney.com.

Judge criticized for signing Walker petition loses

MEQUON – An Ozaukee County judge criticized by his spring election opponent for signing a petition to recall the governor has lost his seat on the bench after 19 years.

Attorney Joe Voiland defeated Judge Tom Wolfgram with more than 60 percent of the vote in unofficial returns. Voiland is elected to a six-year term in circuit court.

Wolfgram said his signature on the Scott Walker recall petition would not affect his ability to be an impartial judge. The petition was circulated after a controversial state law was passed that cut collective bargaining for most state employees.

Walker giving speech to Arkansas Republicans

MADISON – Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker is scheduled to give a speech at a meeting of the Arkansas Young Republicans later this month.

Walker is the featured speaker at the April 30 Reagan Day Dinner event in Fayetteville, Ark.

The speech comes amid growing speculation that Walker is preparing a run for president in 2016. Last week Walker announced that he was working on his memoir to be published later this year.

Walker is a frequent guest speaker at Republican fundraisers and other events across the country. On May 23, he is scheduled to headline a Republican fundraising dinner in Iowa, further fueling talk of his presidential aspirations.

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Last month he was a featured speaker at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington.

Legislator: Taxpayers shouldn't have to pay for decorative enhancements

GREEN BAY – A state legislator from the Fox Valley says taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for decorative enhancements on highway construction projects.

Wrought iron railings, stone work and landscaping are all part of the $1.5 billion Highway 41 reconstruction project in Brown and Winnebago counties.

Rep. Jim Steineke, of Kaukauna, says if local municipalities want the decorative enhancements, they should pay for them. And he says that could save millions of dollars a year.

WLUK-TV (http://bit.ly/16u0Vem ) says the state Department of Transportation is spending $21 million on aesthetic improvements for the Highway 41 reconstruction, a small percentage of the overall project.

Steineke has introduced legislation that takes the spending authority out of the hands of the DOT.

New webcam added to watch peregrine falcons

MADISON – Webcams are in place to capture peregrine falcon nesting activity at two We Energies power plants in Wisconsin.

The first webcam was installed last year at the Pleasant Prairie power plant. A second camera is now in place at the Oak Creek power plant.

We Energies says the falcons have already produced eggs at both sites and they are expected to hatch in early May. The webcams will remain operative around the clock until the newly born falcons take flight and leave the nest.

The energy company says that since 1992, about 20 percent of Wisconsin’s peregrine population has been hatched at We Energies facilities. It says nearly 200 falcons have been born at its power plants over that time.